“Look,” Ben said softly. “The baby turtles are hatching.”
She followed his line of sight to the nest and saw several small hatchlings struggling free. Others began to surge up out of the sand, standing motionless for a few moments as they oriented themselves to the world. Most headed toward the ocean, which was close to low tide, and since the nest had been created above the high-tide line, this was a long walk.
Chloe and Ben hurried to help them find their way. One or two of the baby turtles seemed confused and headed toward the dunes. Chloe picked them up and pointed them in the right direction.
“We’re setting them off on the right course,” Ben observed. “Like you did with Tara.”
“Like we did with Tara,” she corrected him.
When the first tiny turtle caught the roll of a wave, Chloe felt like cheering. It disappeared into the surf, safe from land predators. Soon, its brothers and sisters followed. She recalled from Zephyr’s explanations that for a day or two, the hatchlings would paddle in the direction of the oncoming waves, until they reached the open sea.
“There they go,” Ben said when they had all disappeared into the surf. “All safe.”
“As are we,” Chloe murmured.
“Yes,” he answered. “Finally.”
He held her close, their hearts beating in cadence with the rhythm of the sea, their love a cherished treasure that would sustain them for the rest of their lives.
That night, Chloe wrote in the diary of her sixteenth summer one last time.
Dear Trees, He loves me. I love him. So now I can close out this diary and let you know that everything turned out all right.
Ben disappeared from my life that summer, and when I learned he’d married someone else, I thought my heart was broken. It wasn’t. It was only bruised. I found a boyfriend before the year was out, and lots more after that. As for Ben, he didn’t stay married to Emily, and their only child died tragically. It was very sad, but our life experiences during all those years prepared us for what happened next. Made us appreciate finding each other, and made our love even more precious to both of us.
It seems kind of silly, my telling you at the ripe old age of thirty-two what finally happened with Ben and me. But, you know, some things take a while. Like getting back to the place where you really belong. Like finding out that someone really is pure Gold.
Ben and I plan to be married in the fall, at Lost Galleons Beach. I’ll wear the cob coin on a chain around my neck, and he’ll put the emerald ring on my finger. And, God willing, we’ll never be apart again.
Love,
Chloe D. Timberlake (formerly known as Fire, and soon to be Mrs. Benjamin J. Derrick)
Epilogue
From the Sanluca Courier:
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS
OCTOBER 7, 2007—At Melbourne Municipal Hospital, to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Joel Derrick (Chloe Dionne Timberlake) of the Frangipani Inn, Sanluca, twin daughters, Mariah Beth and Bryony Rose.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-6970-8
THE TREASURE MAN
Copyright © 2006 by Pamela Browning.
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